Vélez Rivera 1

Mirelys Z. Vélez Rivera

ENGL 1302-181

Dr. Cynthia Aradillas

September 27, 2023

Reflection Essay 1

When I first started this class, I was concerned that I was not going to be able to

understand or complete the assignments that were asked of me. In the end, I did make a couple of

mistakes and ended up confusing the Essay 1 Draft with the Annotated Bibliography. Even so, I

was able to comprehend the material asked of me properly. I have been able to identify the

characteristics of an annotated bibliography better, and now I have an idea of what I am

supposed to do in the future. For example, I recently got a job assignment in my lab research

assistant job, that requires me to perform some articles research to complete a research paper.

There is no doubt that I will utilize in the future the skills learned in this assignment.

The creation of an annotated bibliography allows you to search for a background

regarding your research topic. Having a better understanding of your topic from different

perspectives will help you in the time of composition. Not to mention that having other sources

as references could also help you to bring evidence or examples to your writing. Another thing is

that creating an annotated bibliography helps you to organize the ideas that will be mentioned in

the research paper. By having an organized view of the options and topics that are at the table,

the writing process might go smother and the person would be more clear on what to write about.
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By reading the feedback I got, I was able to understand the mistakes I had made and what

I confused myself with. At first, I was thrown off by my professor's comment, but once I started

reading other classmates' comments I understood the meaning behind the professor's comments. I

made the mistake of guiding myself with my past ENGL course experiences and did not consider

further what the assignment was asking for. As a result, my annotated bibliography draft was not

correctly done. It was wrong because I wrote it as an Essay Draft and not an Annotated

Bibliography Draft, the MLA formatting nor the information I provided was what they were

looking for. In the future, I will keep in mind to not just make assumptions by the title and my

past work and to revise the syllabus and instructions properly.

By peer-reviewing my piers I was able to get a better understanding of what was expected

of me and what I could do better for the next occasion. My work was not precisely what it was

asked of me and my classmates provided me guidance in how the assignment was supposed to be

completed. Thankfully after viewing other piers work, I noticed that my actual annotated

bibliography was to brief and needed to go more into depth with my annotations. My annotations

were simple and straightforward. Now instead of just a summary, I also added some quotes or

things I could bring up in my essay. It is very important to provide evidence and examples in the

research paper.

Personally, the two things I found most challenging in the over all assignment was to:

search up articles related to my topic and to analize them with lateral reading. I had a hard time

searching for articles because I did not know what to look for when writing in the Killam Library

search bar. I struggle with lateral reading, but I believe a reason why that could be is that English

is not my first language. As a result, I tend to have a great hard time in reading comprehension.

Sometimes, it helps more if I have the computer read it for me so I listen to it, rather than reading
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it myself. What I found the least challenging of this assignment was the organization of the MLA

format. Once I saw examples and understood how to write the MLA citations, the rest was not

hard to organize. Especially when organizing the sources in alphabetical order. I used to be very

thrown off when people told me the citation order was not right, but now I understand what they

meant.

Overall, I really enjoyed the assignment. It was a very good learning experience and I got

to see and understand other people's work too. The annotated bibliography is the best start a

writer can have to brainstorm their ideas and gather information for their writing. It allows the

writer to search for counterarguments, examples that showcase their ideas, and information or

data that convert into evidence for their claim.

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Works Cited

Aradillas, Cynthia. “Annotated Bibliography Worksheet.” September 8, 2023. ENGL 1302,

Texas A&M International University, handout.

Vélez Rivera, Mirelys Zoe. “Annotated Bibliography.” September 15, 2023. ENCL 1302, Texas

A&M International University, student paper.

Vélez Rivera, Mirelys Zoe. “Essay 1 Draft 1.” September 18, 2023. ENCL 1302, Texas A&M

International University, student paper.